Motor-car heating and ventilating system



Jan. 3, 1933. L. P. HYNES MOTOR CAR HEATING AND VENTILATING SYSTEM Filed Nov. 19, 1926 v INVENTOR LEE P-. nvmzs BY 5% W ATTOR NE! Patented Jan. 3, 1933 v UNiTEo srar-Es LEE 2. mas, or ALgAN Y, new Yoiaghssreivori;BY ivrEsNn' ssIGm/mnrs, :50 con; ,sotrnernn cart-Henr etta coiaranr, mc oraneem, A coaronerron or rmwYoRK. r

NT O I E u M IQR- A s G. A veNj j i e iGfs e-r a "Application med November 19,1926. swarm: 149,509.

For a detailed. description of. the present form of my! invention, reference may be had to the following specification and to the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof,

wherein i Fig. 1 is a semi-diagrammatic view. of a car equipped with my system, the side of the car being removed,

Fig. 2 is a similar view in cross section, and

Fig. 3 a plan of the same.

My system is designed for carsvpropelled by a gas-engine and isshown herein'as ap plied toa car of that type wherein anelectrio generator'and motor serve as the powertransmitting agency between the gas engine and the car axles. In such cars gas engines of fcur'hundred or more horse power are employed and develop a great amountof surplus heat which has heretofore been wasted, it being the present practice to'heat the car and its trailers by an ordinary steam or hot water system operatedfrom a separate coal-burning furnace on the motor car. It is my purpose to eliminate this special furnace and to utilize, for both heating and-ventilating the-car, a part of the heat whichis now being wasted. In outline my plan is to deliver theexhaust V gases of the main engine into the fire space of a boiler located intheengine room of the car. For purposes of illustration; aboiler of the water tubetype has been selected, this boiler having also a small fire-box below it. In this fire-box I install for emergencyuse .38 a small oil-burner which is supplied with fuel under pressure, while air is also blown in with the fuel to promote combustion. This burner has two functions,'first, it provides for the maintained ignition of a secondary combustion of the exhaust gases coming from the gas engine and passing from the exhaust pipe of the engine up through the said fire box to the heat-space of the boiler; second, though small, it is of such magnitude that, in an emergency, as when the car is stopped and no exhaust gases from the engine are forthcoming, it will serve to give'a certain degree of heat in the fire-box that will ,be' sufficient to keep the apparatus from freezing up and will also heat the car enough to prevent serious suifering of the passengers. The

thereby, to aregister which forms an opening steam in the aforesaid boiler gathers in a dome at thetop and passes thence upward to a large radiator or condenser placed near the roofv and above the false ceiling which is usually placed over the enginelroomand baggage compartment of the car. 7 Throughthe air passages of this condenser the-outside air from the front of the car is drawn by a blower fanand becomes heated by the steam in'the condenser which is thereby condensed into water. thatreturns to the boiler. The blower "fanithen drives the air which the condenser has thusheated along horizontally over the false ceiling and through the chamber-formed in the front wall of the passenger 'compart merit near the ceiling. This compartment is the rear one in the car. A damper-controlled opening in the false ceiling over the baggage compartment also permits a branch current 10 of heated airto flow'down into that compartment. The heated air, instead of being deliver ed' into *the passenger compartment as aforesaid, maybe diverted into the outside atmosphere by closing. the saidregister leadngthereto and opening another] alternative register leading through the side of the car out into the outside atmosphere. There are also various other features of my invention that will be described later; 7 i

Turningto the drawing, Fig. 1 shows the outline of what has now become'a standard form of gas-electric rail-car having at the rear a passenger compartment A and, at front, an engine room C with a third baggage compartment B in between the other two. The main gasoline engine is indicated at D and the electric generator at E. It will be understood that engine D drives the generator E from which the electric current goes to the propellingelectric'motors that-are geared to the car axles. F is an upright water-tube boiler, the heat-space of which'extends upwardly above the fire-box G, around the watertubes as is shown in Fig.2 and communicates with the stack Pwhich extends above the roof. The boiler water is drawn from an elevated tank K by a circulating pump T and passes thence through thef water jacket ofengine D and then by conduit D through the water tubes back to the tank K. It will be noted that the water tubes communicate with a water space covered by the dome I. Thus a means for rapid circulation of the water is provided.

The steam is generated in this boiler by the heat of the exhaust gases from engine D, and by their recombustion inthe fire-box. This steam gathers at the top of the boiler in dome I and passes thence through a single conduit I to alarge radiator or air cooled condenser located near the roof of the 'car in a chamber, formed therein by the customary false ceiling V which extends over engine room C and baggage compartment Water of condensation also returns from the condenser 0 through the same conduit I. In this chamber is a fansblower Q, which draws in outside air through a suitable opening controlled by a damper 0 and then sucks it through the air- Zg" ways of the said condenser 0, whereby it become'sheated. The fan-blower Q then forces the air to, the left through the register W into the upper part of the passenger compartment A, and also-if desired, into compartment B throughan opening controlled by a damper 7 If desired the air may be caused to circulate for ventilating purposes by opening the registers R and R? in the partition wall near the floor of the respective compartments 3% A and B, Both of these registers open into a vertical flueR whichleads upward through false ceiling V into a horizontal duct S. There are similar registers R and R on the opposite sides of the car, also a similar flue R and horizontal'duct S. The ducts S, S are separate from the aforesaid central chamber for the freshly-heated air, and open into the atmosphere at the front end of the car on either side of the entrance to said condenser O as shown in the plan view of Fig. 3. Thereby more or less of the air drawn from compartments A and B into flues R through registers R and R emerges from ducts S, S near the entranceto condenser O and will be drawn by fan Q back into the car together with more or less fresh air. which enters through the opening controlled bydamper 0. To shut off the heat from the car compartments the register W will be closed and a register W which leads to the duct S through the sideof the central chamber will be opened. The air for maintaining the combustion in fire-box G is derived from a special blower-fan H which is driven by a separate gasoline engine J, said eh air being introduced into the fire box of the boiler by means of conduit 4. A branch air pipe 7. leads from said conduit 4 to the top of the oil tank 6and putspressure thereon which forces the oil down into the burner 5. in firebox G. This burner serves to ignite and maintain the combustion of the exhaust gases from the mainengine D. l

7 It will be realized that in a gas-electric car ofthis type it is necessary to employ a highly skilled locomotive engineer who is competent to take charge of such heating and venti= lating apparatus as I have shown herein and free to give it adequate care and attention. In an ordinary bus, however, a single man is usually employed who must steer and operate the bus besides collecting fares and letting passengers in and out. This makes the problem of heating and ventilating a gas-electric rail-car a different one from that of heating and ventilating a bus. Hence, for the particular purpose for which my system is devised, it is a thoroughly practical and effective one, although for the different purpose of bus heating it is not applicable or pertinent for the reason I have given and other reasons which need not be discussed herein.

lVhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A heating and ventilating system of the character described comprising a vehicle, an internal combustion engine within the -vehicle, a boiler having a water space and a fire box, means for delivering exhaust gases from said engine to said fire box, ignition means within said fire box for maintaining combustion' of said exhaust gases, a condenser for heating said vehicle, a single conduit connecting the condenser with the upper part of said water space so that vapor will pass to the condenser and condensed fluid will return to the water space through the same conduit, and means for causing air to travel over the condenser from the outside to the interior of the vehicle.

2. A heating and ventilating system of the character described comprising a vehicle, an internal combustion engine within the vehicle, a boiler having a water space and a fire box, means for delivering exhaust gases from said engine to said fire box, ignition means within said firebox for maintaining combustion of said exhaust gases, a water tank for supplying said boiler, a condenser for heating said vehicle and supported in a plane above said boiler, means connecting said condenser with the upper part of-said water space, and means for causing air to travel over the condenser from the outside to the interior of the vehicle.

3. A heating and ventilating system of the character described comprising a vehicle body, a boiler having a fire box and a water space, an internal combustion engine located within the vehicle and having an exhaust pipe connected with said fire box, means for introducingair into said fire box so as to combine with the exhaust gases delivered by said exhaust pipe, means within said fire box for maintaining combustion of the mixture of exhaust gases and air, a condenser for heating said vehicle, said condenser being connected with said boiler, and means for propelling outside air over said condenser and into. the vehicle.

4. A heatingand ventilating system of the character described comprising a vehicle body, a boiler having a fire box and a water space, an internal combustion engine within said vehicle and having an exhaust pipe connected with said fire box, said engine also having a water jacket communicating with the water space of the boiler, a water tank supplying said water space and said Water jacket, means for introducing air into said fire box so as to combine with the exhaust gases delivered by said exhaust pipe, means Within said fire box for maintaining combustion of the mixture of exhaust gases and air,

a condenser for heating said vehicle, said condenser being connected with said boiler, and means for propelling outside air over said condenser and into the vehicle.

5. A heating and ventilating system of the character described comprising a vehicle body, an internal combustion engine within said vehicle, a boiler connected with the exhaust pipe of said engine so as to receive the exhaust gases, a condenserfor heating said.

vehicle, said condenser being connected with said boiler, means for 1na1nta1n1ng combustion of said exhaust gases within said boiler so as to supply vapor to said condenser, means for causing air from the interior of the vehicle to pass over said condenser soas to be heated, and'means for returning said heated air to the interior of the vehicle.

6. A heating and ventilating system of the character described comprising a vehicle body, an internal combustion engine within said vehicle, means for reburning exhaust gases from said engine, means for producing vapor by recombustion of said gases, a condenser for heating said vehicle, said condenser being connected with said vapor producing means, means for causing air from the interior of the vehicle to pass over said condenser so as to be heated thereby, means for returning said heated air to the vehicle, and means for also circulating external air over said condenser.

7 A heating and ventilating system'of the 7 character described comprising a vehicle body, an internal combustion engine within said vehicle, means for reburning exhaust gases from said engine, means for producing vapor by recombustion of said gases, a condenser connected with said vapor producing means, an air duct leading from the condenser to the space Within the vehicle, means for causing outside air to pass over the con denser for heating said vehicle, said condenser being in said duct, and means for causing air from the interior of the vehicle to pass over the condenser into said duct.

Si ned at Albany, county of Albany, State 252% ew York, this 10th day of November,

LEE P. HYNES. 

